Report: Teen 'psychotic' after attack on clinician

Wednesday

Jun 25, 2014 at 2:36 PMJun 25, 2014 at 2:37 PM

The Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher appeared to be "psychotic" after he allegedly attacked a female clinician at a Department of Youth Services detention center in Boston earlier this month, according to court documents.

The Associated Press

SALEM — The Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher appeared to be "psychotic" after he allegedly attacked a female clinician at a Department of Youth Services detention center in Boston earlier this month, according to court documents.

The documents, a request by the state Department of Youth Services to have 15-year-old Philip Chism undergo a psychiatric evaluation following the June 2 incident, were released Tuesday by a Superior Court judge in response to a motion by The Salem News.

Chism was armed with a pencil when he followed the woman into a staff bathroom and choked, stabbed, and punched her, according to authorities. The woman turned down medical treatment.

Chism was "out of touch with reality" and "yelling, screaming incoherently (and) foaming at the mouth while being restrained by staff," according to the psychologist-written petition to have him committed to Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital for 30 days of mental health evaluation and treatment.

He has not been charged in connection with the alleged attack on the worker.

His lawyer refused comment.

The documents also outline the security measures put in place at the Worcester facility, including constant one-on-one observation, with a male staff member even accompanying him to the bathroom.

Chism has pleaded not guilty to robbing, raping and killing 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer after following her into a restroom last October. He was 14 at the time and had recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee.

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